Geocaching can be described as a modern day treasure hunt with items or caches hidden all over the world.

With any GPS device (including your mobile phone), you basically download the app or save the cache locations to your handheld GPS and go and find it! There are many different cache categories, some requiring you to solve problems to unlock the coordinates for the location of the cache. Others make you follow a GPS trail, collecting hints which will give you the final address. Continue reading My first Geocache→

For those who have read into the history of Berlin, you would know that the threat of destruction from conventional and nuclear weapons caused the leadership in the day to construct underground bunkers. Though many of these underground installations have been destroyed or have caved in, some have been opened to the public via guided tours from Berlin Unterwelten. Buying tickets from their Pavilion at Gesundbrunnen U-bahn station, we set off for two ‘bunkers’ in their English Speaking Tour 3. Continue reading Berlin Unterwelten!→

On 19 July 2014, I’ll be departing for an epic trek across Europe and Central Asia, journeying by car with a few friends from the UK to Mongolia!

If you haven’t heard of the Mongol Rally before, essentially it is what it’s called. It’s a charity rally, where teams from all over the world journey from Goodwood, UK to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Unlike a ‘traditional’ rally, there are no support crews, no designated stops, no set route nor time limit to get there.

This year, the cars are required to have sub-1000cc engine (previous years up to 1.3L was allowed) and they should generally cost no more than £500. Teams have journey through the Balkans, Iran, Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kazakhstan to reach their final destination. Though the rally has been run for a number of years now and hundreds of teams have successfully completed the journey, many teams have fallen victim to the inhospitable terrain and driving conditions which have resulted in mechanical breakdowns, traffic accidents and the crushed spirits… Challenge accepted!

This year, the official charity of the rally is Cool Earth, aimed at protecting the world’s rainforests from deforestation and illegal development. My team has also decided to support Legacy, an organisation founded to support the families of Australian soldiers who have been incapacitated or have died whilst serving overseas.

Watch this space for the link to our team’s blog, which will have our official fundraising page, progress of the team leading up to July 19 and of course, team tracking during the rally.

So for probably the 4th time, the battery of my watch died. No big deal – unscrew the back, swap out the battery, clean the o-ring, apply some silicone grease and it’s back to business as usual.

But it made me think.. I’ve had this watch since 2001 and it was made in 1999. That’s a 15 year old watch with 12 years of service!

Finding an old stock photo of the watch as-new shows that it has definitely aged in that time with most of the armour, light button etc, succumbing to humidity deterioration and wear and tear. But it still works fine, keeps time, all functions working. Let’s hope its 13th year isn’t going to be unlucky.